Asus working on touchscreen Eee PC?

Mini laptop could let you get truly hands-on

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Apple may have disappointed us by not releasing a netbook at its press event earlier this week, but rumours suggest that Asus could be set to shake up the market again next year by releasing a touchscreen version of its Eee PC.

Digitimes reports that this could arrive in the first or second quarter of 2009, possibly sporting an 11.6-inch screen. It's being speculated that this will support touchscreen functionality in Windows 7, a new version of Microsoft's operating system that's currently scheduled to arrive early in 2010.

A touchscreen has obvious advantages for the computer musician – imagine being able to move faders and knobs with your fingers rather than clicking and dragging them with your mouse.

However, it remains to be seen whether a small netbook screen would be big enough to be of any practical use, or whether the rumoured touch-friendly Eee PC would deliver sufficient processing grunt to run today's power-hungry music-making apps.